An insider's guide to education

Not surprisingly, the new Asti boss, John White, has a spring in his step after winning the race to succeed Charlie Lennon as general secretary. White won the €100,000 a year job because of widespread support for him among the grassroots and, crucially, from members nominated by the central executive.

There is one striking irony in his appointment: after years of campaigning against Lennon, the small, active band of militants find themselves with a new general secretary who shares Lennon's moderate views - not least on the issue of the Asti returning to the ICTU fold.

The challenges facing White include reorganising the branch structure and ensuring the voice of the ordinary teacher - as opposed to the loudest voice - is heard. He also has to restore the union's battered public image.

But White, a former English Lit teacher from Dundalk, enjoys unparalleled power to reshape the union. Widely admired throughout the system for his measured way, he is expected to make a major impact.

Interesting to see past pupils have been dipping into ratemyteachers.ie to run the rule over their former teachers. Mary Hanafin, a former teacher at the excellent Sion Hill school in Blackrock, Dublin, wins plenty of plaudits - and only a few barbs (probably from some political opponents) on the site.

Here's a sample:

"Excellent teacher, I wish her all the best in politics, she would make a superb Taoiseach!"

"The best teacher I ever had. I think we are lucky to have someone like her helping lead our country."

"Extremely hard working and dedicated, just don't get on the wrong side of her!

Ratemyteachers, meanwhile, is continuing to surge forward with more than 300,000 ratings.

The task force on discipline is expected to publish an interim report in June, which will acknowledge the scale of the disciplinary crisis in schools.

But key proposals probably won't emerge until the final report later this year, as the group seeks detailed legal advice on the feasibility of its recommendations.

To its credit, the group has been going into schools that face severe disciplinary problems and talking to teachers, parents and pupils. We are promised a practical and sensible task force report. Others, please copy!

Good to see one multinational, Intel, doing something practical to arrest the fall-off in teenagers taking science subjects.

Its new online tool, junior physics investigation, should boost interest in the revised Junior Cert course.